1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a rail assembly, typically a straight or substantially straight rail assembly, upon which a carriage of a stationary inclined elevator is guided.
2. Description of the Related Art
Stationary inclined elevators are used to convey both people and loads, and are positioned at angles of inclination corresponding to an angle of the gradient on which the elevator rails are mounted. For example, a precipitous terrain on which it is difficult to walk can be bridged with an inclined elevator.
An inclined elevator can also serve as an alternative for stairs. For example, an inclined elevator can be installed from a boat house or garage to a dwelling above. They also can operate as a freight and passenger lift in a multi-floor house and in doing so, have the capability of stopping at any floor in the house. For industrial applications, an inclined elevator can be used as a lift, for example, to enable a person to access pipes positioned high above the floor in a warehouse or power plant, inspect the walls of dikes, or to move objects in underground tunnels and the like.
Stationary inclined elevators are especially important for conveying handicapped people, such as those confined to a wheelchair, who cannot climb stairs without assistance. Further, inclined elevators can be retrofit in train stations or other public buildings of any kind which were not originally built with such elevators, because the elevators can be constructed directly at the edge of the stairs in the building.
Many diverse models of straight or substantially straight rail assemblies for stationary inclined elevators exist. Such rail assemblies are predominantly metal assemblies whose pieces are welded together as they are mounted to the inclined surface in accordance with desired specifications. Therefore, it is quite expensive to erect inclined elevators typically known in the art. However, alternative designs exist, in which individual elements of the rail assembly are screwed together during assembly (see, for example, the U.S. Journal: Elevator World, August 1986, pp. 44 to 52, in particular, the figures on page 46).
A straight or substantially straight rail assembly for a mobile inclined elevator (e.g., for construction purposes), whose rails can be assembled from several pairs of angle sections of fixed length, is described in British Patent Application GB615789 (see, in particular, FIGS. 1 and 8-11). In this design, the angle sections are rigidly connected together (apparently welded), like the rungs of a ladder, by tubes. Successive pairs of rails are joined together detachably (apparently screwed) with spliced frames, in order to adapt the length of the rail assembly to the special features of the construction site. The splice frames consist of two plates, which are rigidly joined together to the frame by two tubes. Other frames are not provided, and no supports engage the frame.